Walking Dead 1. Not a Democracy

She heard them long before she saw them huddled around their tiny campfire. A woman, and a boy burrowing his face into her chest, a dark haired college aged boy with his arm around a frightened looking girl, an old man hugging a teenaged girl who looked like she had been crying, a woman with short hair and a scowl on her face, a large black fellow who looked friendly enough, albeit concerned, and another man, standing in front of them, looking irate_. _Nine people, in total. Their group was somewhat hidden inside what looked to be what was left of an old house. The stone walls encased them for the most part, except for a few gaps, and a wide hole where a tree had begun to grow_. A good hiding spot_, she thought, _but only for a short time._ They didn't seem to realize how loud they were being, that they were making themselves easy targets for any wandering zombie that might have been near. If they didn't quiet down they would be hiding there for a lot less time than they had probably planned.

"I killed my best friend for you people!" The irate looking man was yelling to the others.

_The leader_? She thought. _He looks like a crazy person. And who yells like that in the middle of the night out in the open? Does he _**want**_to be eaten?_

The decision to approach them was becoming increasingly difficult. They clearly weren't in the mood for visitors, and might even be the type to shoot her on sight. But they were eating and she was **starving**, so much so that she was almost willing to risk being shot for one small bite of whatever was in those tin cans. The woman with the child was the only thing really keeping her from walking away from them right then.

_No one would shoot an innocent person in front of a child, would they? _

But she just couldn't be sure because she didn't know these people. And she had already seen her fair share of desperate people doing terrible things. Terrible, unspeakable things that she wished she could erase from her memory already.

She shook her head, it was too risky. Starving to death in the woods or being eaten alive couldn't be much worse than what she had already witness. Those choices seemed almost lavish compared to being shot on the spot, or worse, being invited to stay only to be betrayed again.

She gripped her hatchet tight and turned to the forest behind her. It was dark and freezing cold but she would have to make do. Find a tree or something to hide in. Try to sleep.

"…NOT A DEMOCRACY…" She heard the man yell.

Sighing, she turned for one last look at the warm fire, the real living people, and the food. But instead of firelight dancing on the stone walls she was met with the barrel of a gun.


	2. I'm a Person

"Don't shoot me! I'm a person!" The girl cried out, throwing her hands up and dropping something that landed with a loud clunk onto the ground.

"Jesus, woman! Who the hell are you? I thought you were walker, you got a death wish?" Daryl whispered loudly.

"I'm, I'm Jessi. I'm a-alone. I'm hungry." She stammered.

Daryl looked at the girl in front of him, not moving his gun from where it was aimed at her forehead. She was small, couldn't be more than 5'2. Blonde hair in a ponytail, and dark eyes, she was a skinny thing, but had packed on a bit of muscle from roughing it, it seemed. She was wearing ripped jeans and a tank top that looked like it had been white once, and black work boots. A small hatchet was lying by her feet. She looked defeated and although Daryl knew that they didn't have much to feed her and that this was clearly the wrong time to be bringing home strays, he didn't feel right about killing her, or leaving her.

"You can put your hands down now, kid. I ain't gunna shoot ya," he lowered his gun. "Name's Daryl. You picked a helluva time to show up. C'mon." And with that he turned and headed back toward the camp. Rick was probably gonna want to kick him in the head for this but he couldn't just let the girl starve to death out there, could he? And Carol, not that he belonged to her or anything, but she was going to love this, seeing him walk in to camp with a younger woman. He almost laughed at that thought.

"I'm not a kid." He heard Jessi mutter behind him, and turned to face her again.

"I'm twenty-five. Seriously, not a kid." Jessi said defensively. He could see her eyes clearly now, they were some shade of bluish gray that he had never seen before. Made her look kinda pretty, standing there with her hands on her hips. _Merle would have a field day if he was seein' this_, Daryl thought.

"It's the end of the goddamn world and you're worried about people thinkin' you're younger than you are?" he shook his head and continued walking. He wasn't angry but it wouldn't hurt to let her think that, for now. He didn't want her to think he was some kind of softie or something.

"I can't be held responsible for anything I say or do when I'm this hungry." He could hear the smile on her face as she said it and before he could think, he felt his lips curling up on one side. Not quite a smile, but almost.


	3. Snake Skin

She picked up her hatchet from where it had fallen moments before and tucked it into her belt loop before following behind. Using only the dim, flickering light from the fire in front of her to see, she tried to make out more of what Daryl looked like from behind. About 5'10" she guessed, with dark almost shoulder length hair. He had a crossbow strapped to his back which was pretty badass and she decided right then that she never wanted to be on the wrong end of that thing.

Suddenly the world brightened up around her, and Jessi realized that they had reached the fire pit and there were ten faces staring at her.

"Daryl, what is this?" The man she recognized as Crazy-Leader from earlier said angrily.

"It's a fuckin cat," Daryl spit into the fire and took seat on a torn piece of blanket laid out on the ground. "What's it look like? Her name's Jessi. And I couldn't exactly leave her to rot in the woods, could I?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute? Away from the group." Crazy-Leader looked unhappy.

"Anything you wanna say to me you can say right here, boss." Daryl's voice was sandpapery and he was clearly unswayed by Crazy-Leader's tone of voice.

"Oh, hell," Crazy-Leader looked towards Jessi and his voice softened. "I'm Rick. Welcome to the group. You hungry?"

"Starved," Jessi said " I could eat the skin off a snake."

"Well," Rick laughed "All we got here is some canned corn and peas. Hope that'll suffice."

"I haven't eaten in three days." Jessi took the opened can of corn from Rick's outstretched hand and sat down next to Daryl. He shifted to make room for her on the blanket and lit up a cigarette, tossing the burnt match into the fire.

"I'm-a I'm Glen. And this is Maggie, my girlfriend," The the dark haired college boy said. "Welcome to our little group."

"Thanks." Jessi replied shyly, spooning corn into her mouth.

"I'm Hershel," the older man smiled. "And this is Beth. She and Maggie are my daughters. Over there," he pointed across the fire to the woman holding the small boy. "Is Laurie, that's Rick's wife, and she's holdin' on to his son, Carl. And that handsome fellow over by the tree is T-Dog. Over there sitting on the tire is Carol. And I see you've already met Daryl. We've just been through a pretty trying situation so forgive us if we aren't all up to talking."

"It's okay," Jessi swallowed the last of the corn and set the empty can down beside her "I know what that's like." Daryl looked over at her, almost as if he might ask to hear her story, before he turned away again, looking out into the darkness.

"Well," Rick cleared his throat. " I think right now we all should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we've got to find a secure shelter and think about sending out a couple of people to search for Andrea."

Everyone seemed to agree and one by one they settled themselves into the most comfortable positions they could find and tried to drift into sleep.

Jessi thought about moving to a new spot, giving Daryl more space on the blanket. But something about him made her feel safe. Maybe it was because he was the one who found her, or maybe it was just that something about him felt so familiar. Whatever the feeling was, it kept her there, curled up next to him on the blanket all night.


	4. Podunk

Daryl woke before the others with a stiff back. He realized that he was sleeping on his side which was strange. He smelled burnt wood, and that way the air gets before a rainfall before he had even opened his eyes. When he did open them he saw that chick from last night. _What was her name? Jackie? Jenny? _**Jessi, **he realized finally.

She was curled up next to him, his body forming a U around her. One of his arms had been thrown over her body and she had curled one of her arms around it. Gently he wiggled his arm free of hers and sat upright. He didn't want to wake her up yet, or anyone else. But he did look at her. _Merle would love this,_he thought, _his baby brother spooning with some random. _He tried to remember the last time he woke up next to a random and couldn't. He could have had a lot of girls back in the day. Back in thier old podunk town he was nothing at home. But he was a prime piece out at the bars.

Jessi stirred next to him and he stood so he wouldn't wake her. Judging by the light it was only six or seven in the morning and Daryl thought he ought to try to hunt something to eat before everyone was awake. Take advantage of the quiet.

He grabbed his crossbow and headed towards the woods, pulling the zipper on his jeans down so he could take a leak. He walked a few paces before picking a nice oak to piss on and let the morning stream flow. Maybe it was the thoughts from earlier flooding back. Maybe it was the smell of piss that did it. Whatever it was, suddenly Daryl remembered:

_It smelled like piss and cigarettes. Merle was already shitfaced and hollering across the bar at Daryl, sitting with his crew of lowlifes, swinging his arms around and knocking shit on the floor. Daryl had just wanted to change the song on the jukebox because he couldn't stand that damn pop shit. He left Merle and his cheap drinks at the table and walked over to hit the head and change the song and then there she was. Little red haired thing leaning against the wall right by the jukebox. She smiled at him and he thought "Goddamn, where did she come from?" He wasn't suave and he wasn't like his older brother who got girls by being aggressive. He thought about talking to this chick. Telling her how she was pretty or something. He couldn't bring her back to the table though. Merle would either steal her or drive her away._

"_Come on brother! Pop that little pink pussy, boy!"_

**_Jesus H. Christ. _**_Daryl thought. Was it Merle's life mission to fuck up everything for him? He glared across the room at his brother but that only fueled Merle's fire._

"_You don't have it in you, do you?" Merle laughed with his friends. "Look at this boys! My baby brother couldn't get his little prick wet if it was raining!"_

Daryl pulled up the zipper on his pants and looked out into the forest. Merle was always a shit for sure. And he was probably a dead shit now.

"Planning to go hunting?" A voice from behind him asked. This time he didn't spin around and aim first. He recognized Jessi's voice from last night. Instead he turned and just looked at her for a minute.

"Yeah. Thought I might get lucky with a squirrel or something.""I've been wandering this forest for days. Haven't seen a living thing in miles." She chewed her bottom lip. _Where did she come from?_

"Maybe you're too fuckin loud. Scaring everything away." Watching her chew her bottom lip was making Daryl uncomfortable in a way that he almost liked. He bent over, pretending to tighten the laces on his boots.

"You didn't notice me come up behind you just now, did you?" She challenged.

"Fair enough," he looked up at her. "You hunt much?"

"Now I do. Met a guy who taught me to rig snares after the world went to shit," she eyed his bow "And I can shoot, a little."

"Not with this bow, you can't," Daryl stood up and headed out into the forest. Jessi stared at his back for a moment, trying to figure him out.

"You comin'?" Daryl asked without turning his head and without a word she followed.


	5. Home

"Come on, chuck that thing like you mean it!" Daryl yelled.

Jessi threw the hatchet at the walker hanging from the tree and it landed with a thunk in the center of it's forehead. The walker shook for a moment before going limp as it hung.

"I told you I could hit it!" Jessi smiled, heading over to yank the hatchet back out.

"Yeah, after how many tries?" Daryl laughed. He'd been doing stuff like that a lot since she showed up. Smiling and shit. It was weird.

"Was that an actual laugh, I just heard?" Jessi looked over at him over shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, it happens. Sometimes." Daryl smiled at her from the tree stump he was sitting on, as he rigged up new arrows.

"Not too often though, huh? I've been with you for a week, and this is the first time I've really seen you be something other than serious." She pulled the blade out of the walkers head and wiped the blade on a torn piece of a T shirt.

"Ain't much to laugh about these days," Daryl looked over at her again. "With people always dyin' and shit."

"Yeah, I guess," Jessi headed towards him and sat down on the stump next to him. "But you gotta try, right? I mean you can't give up on the good stuff. Cuz then, whats the point?"

"I don't know. Survival." Daryl didn't look up from his work this time.

"Yeah, but what are you surviving for, Daryl?" She put her hand on his shoulder and he flinched.

"I donno. Something to do I guess. Trying not to get myself killed keeps me busy." He put the arrows down and stood up, stretching out his arms and crackling his knuckles.

"But, that's not really true, is it?" She stated more than asked.

"How the fuck would you know?" Daryl spun around so he was facing her.

"Because you care about the group. You hunt to feed everyone. You protect us. Because," she stood up, her faces inches away from his. "Because the fucking world went to shit, and you found purpose."

Jessi felt his hand at the back of her neck pulling her forward and then his lips were on hers, his tongue forcing it's way into her mouth. She stood on tip toes, her arms around Daryl's neck, her fingers playing with his hair. He tasted like cigarettes and cold air and something that was always meant to happen. His other hand found its way to the small of her back and his fingertips tickled her skin. He felt familiar and for the first time in so long, Jessi was reminded of the town she grew up in, the fishing hole, penny candy from the country store, the sound of her mama's old dial up phone ringing, and the rocking chair out on the front porch. Daryl felt like coming home.

And then it was over, and he was shoving her away, grabbing his bow and throwing it over his shoulder, yelling "What the fuck do you know?" as he stomped away and left her standing there alone.


	6. Normal World

She didn't cry. She wasn't that kind of girl. And besides, the world had ended. She spent all her tears when her family died. She spilled every last tear when she watched her baby brother and sister get torn to pieces right in front of her and after that she decided to never cry again because that kind of shit just didn't change anything.

Instead Jessi got angry. She threw the hatchet into that walkers head over and over again for hours.

THUNK.

And then she walked over, ripped it out with a sickening squish, and turned around to do it again. By nightfall, the walkers head was mush and there was no point in throwing the hatchet at it anymore. Jessi wiped the sweat off of her forehead and headed back to the prison.

"Where have you been all day?" Rick asked when she walked in the door.

"Out." She replied, and headed up the stairs to her cell block. She sat down on her bed and thought about how she hated this prison. She'd almost rather be outside in a tent or sleeping under the stars. If it wasn't for the lack of food out there, she probably would be.

"Everything okay? You kind of came stomping up here." Maggie had appeared at her cell door.

"Just, you know. Rough day, I guess." She looked at her feet.

"You want to talk about it?" Maggie sat on the mattress next to her.

"I don't know. How do you get someone to let you in?" She twirled a piece of a hair around her fingers.

"You mean Daryl? He's one that no one has really cracked yet, except maybe Carol. And she only got in an inch of the way." Maggie put a pillow behind her and leaned back against the cell wall.

"Did they ever..you know?" Jessi asked even though she wasn't certain that she really wanted to know the answer.

"Carol and Daryl?" Maggie laughed. "Oh no, it never went there. Daryl does let anyone in that far. Or at least he acts that way. We know he cares about us though, even if he doesn't know."

Jessi thought about telling Maggie about the kiss but then decided against it. That kiss was just for her. For the two of them. It didn't seem right to tell anyone else just yet. Even if shit had hit the fan right after. This wasn't the normal world where two girls could sip wine at the bar and over-analyze the whole situation. And Daryl definitely wasn't the type of guy who would go out and spread his business around, so Jessi didn't think it would be right for her to that.

But it would have been nice to know where the hell he was.


	7. Weak

_(Author's Note: Here's the newest little bit. And in response to my guest reviewer: I know the situation they were in between the seasons, but keep in mind that this is fiction. I've obviously used some artistic license and developed people, conversations and situations that never really happened during a time period in the show that may or may not have allowed for my story line to fit. And I'm okay with that.) _

He'd kissed her. He didn't plan it, although the thought had crossed his mind a time or two before. But then out of nowhere he'd just done it. Out here in all this filth and pain and stink, and that broad still managed to smell like vanilla. And she was small up against him, like even though he knew that she could handle herself, it might be okay for him to take care of her too. She made him feel big. Bigger than he ever had next to Merle. Bigger than his father ever made him feel.

Daryl paced back in forth across the courtyard. He knew he shouldn't be out here now that it was dark but he didn't really give a shit. What the fuck was he supposed to do? Getting close to people makes you weak. Makes you vulnerable. Getting close to people means you risk losing people. Daryl didn't want any of that. He was better on his own anyway. And he'd been weak before. Merle had reminded him of that every fucking day. He wasn't going to go back there.

He headed toward the watch tower and climbed up. The moon was so full that he actually had a decent visual from the tower. He looked down at the land laid out before him. There was only a handful of walkers out there; they had done a pretty good job clearing out the field by the fences earlier that day. Still, he needed the release.

Daryl loaded the bow, eyeballing a walker by the fence. It was male, around Daryl's height and it was limping. The walker's left arm was hanging by a thread, dangling there as he stumbled along the fence line like a drunk trying to find his way home. He lined up the shot and pressed the trigger, the arrow flying through the air until it found its way into the walkers left eye socket. It sank through the chunky flesh of the corpse's face and popped out the back of it's soft skull with a sickening crack. The walker dropped to the ground.


	8. Nightmare

"_Jessi! Help me!" _

_She could hear Delilah screaming from the bedroom and tried to find a way to reach her. The living room was filled with the dead, and more and more were flooding in every minute. Jessi had shoved all of the furniture in front of her and was backed into the corner by the kitchen door, trying to shoot them with her daddy's old pistol to fend them off. As bullet after bullet hit creatures who used to be her neighbor, her milkman, her second grade teacher, she regretted not taking her daddy up on his offer to teach her to shoot. She hit them in the chest and they just kept moving, an ocean of people that she used to know and care about. Bullets ricochet around the room and stuck themselves in walls and then the gun began to click in her hand, empty._

_Jessi looked at her brother across the room, his back against the wall, still squeezing the trigger of his gun over and over. Jason was a much better shot than she was and managed to take down half of his old baseball team before his he ran out of bullets. Then he looked at her, wide eyed and more frightened than she'd ever seen him. _

"_Jessi?" The word slipped from between his lips, more a question that a statement and before she could respond he was being dragged down into the mass of undead that tore at his flesh and pulled apart the muscle that covered his bones. _

_She couldn't move, went blind in that moment and thought that maybe she was accepting her death. The world went silent and she imagined herself away from this awful place, away from the sounds of her brother choking on his own blood, the sounds of his bones snapping and the moans that came from the people that she used to call family. _

_She felt a cold hand clamp down around her wrist, the skin sagging around bones. For a moment she was still. And then she heard it and new that she had something to keep fighting for. _

"_Jessi! Help me!" _


	9. Sleepless

The prison was silent except for the sound of various types of snoring. Hershel's was a loud lawn-mower type of snoring that echoed all across the walls of the prison, turning into a comforting lullaby that helped everyone drift off to sleep. Daryl leaned his bow against the wall of his cell and sat down on his bunk. He needed a shower but didn't want to risk waking everyone up so he peeled his shirt off and let that be enough. He longed to kick his boots off, a feeling that crept on him every night, but knew he would never be able to sleep without feeling like he could be up and ready to fight in an instant. Yawning, Daryl smashed the rock hard pillow with his fist, and laid down.

He stared at the bottom of the bunk above him, and tried not to think about his life. He had been out shooting walkers for much longer than he intended and the sun would be up soon. Now he would be running on fumes all day, even grumpier than usual. Sighing, he squeezed his eyes shut and begged for sleep to come.

Daryl was finally slipping away when it he heard her up above him and wasted no time jumping up and grabbing his bow. He took the stairs two at a time and was halfway up them when he realized that she was screaming her own name.

"Jessi! Help me!"


End file.

Walking Dead